NUF’s 2009 Power in Caring Honorees
The Neighborhood Unity Foundation (NUF) honors community residents who do good in their community, for their community. NUF feels that there are a lot of people who don’t normally get recognized for the time and energy they spend to make the community and the world a better place to live. It is the little acts of kindness that matters; we encourage acts of kindness and we honor those who do it with no intention of getting paid or receiving recognition for it. Congratulations!! Following are the individuals that NUF has honored this year. Keep up the good work.
Margarita Bacigalupo
Margarita is a parent academic liaison at Horton Elementary School, where she works to build stronger bonds between parents and teachers. Margarita also understands the need for parents to be computer literate and began offering computer classes for parents whose first language is not English. Her work demonstrates to us the importance of community pride and how we all need to join in to make sure that the families of our community succeed in life.
Enrique Chavez
Enrique has developed a reputation as a hardworking and dependable youth in our community. Whether he is preparing for classes, volunteering at neighborhood events, or working a part-time job to help his family, Enrique’s trustworthiness and respectful attitude to all makes him a strong and positive role model for other young men and women in the neighborhood. He is now a freshman at UCSD and majoring in architecture.
Haydee Ferrufino
Haydee is a mother of two who is very active in her children’s activities. She is one of the parents who volunteers numerous hours at the Youth Movement Center. She also volunteers many hours at her children’s school, Encanto Elementary, and at many of the Jacobs Center’s cultural events. Haydee makes a solid effort to participate in the community and engage youth in positive activities.
L. C. Anthony
L.C. is a courageous, fair, and committed individual. He is active in the Valencia Park Town Council as well as in his church, Bayview Baptist. He is a faithful husband and a valued member of our community. His leadership, faithfulness, and compassion for the community is appreciated by all.
Abdisalam Farah
Abdi is the founder of Somali Youth United. He’s very involved in the community, both as a volunteer and through his work at United Domestic Workers of America. He is the father of three beautiful children and volunteers numerous hours in the community for many different organizations. His dreams are to have the youth of all ethnicities united and doing good for each other and for communities they live in.
Laura Lopez
Laura is an honest and sincere homemaker with three children and a husband. She volunteers in her children’s school, offers her home for community meetings, and loves to plan and host workshops to better her community. She has been involved in community clean ups, nutritional classes, CPR classes, and domestic violence workshops. She is an asset to our community and an example for all.
Soledad Lopez and Ana Diaz
This team from Southcrest have been actively involved in the community as part of the San Diego Organizing Project (SDOP). Soledad and Ana have been working in the community for over twenty years: they helped shut down a bar that allowed minors and was a location for many fights; they fought the city to stop a new freeway from being built that would split the community; they helped get a ballot initiative raised for higher taxes on cigarettes; they fought to support the Healthy Families program in California; and they helped create the 6 to 6 Program. After twenty years, they are still involved in the community to keep empowering and improving it.
Linda Murray
Linda became a daycare provider in the community after working for the city and at several elementary schools. For over ten years, she has focused on mentoring and assisting other single moms who just need a hand in raising their children to grow up healthy and strong. She hopes one day to open her own pre-school or center for early childhood development in the neighborhood.
Faye Ponder Price
Faye has worked for the City of San Diego for twenty-nine years. She donates part of her salary to Mama’s Kitchen, which helps AIDS and cancer patients, and collects formal dresses for teenage girls who have cancer so that they can attend their proms. Faye also assists the developmental disabled with their taxes.
Benjamin Ramirez
Benjamin has volunteered at Writerz Blok for many years and got involved in their graffiti arts program as an alternative to tagging. He is also a mentor at the Youth Movement Center, where he organizes youth to voice their opinions and put their talents to more useful means in the community. He encourages youth to take a stand and be heard.
Yulma Rubio
Yulma, 17, lives in the Fourth District. She is a senior at Scripps Ranch High School where she maintains a GPA of over 4.2. She has volunteered for The Movement and for the Jackie Robinson Family YMCA, gets involved in many community activities, and has a part-time job to help support her family. Yulma will be attending Columbia University to major in law. She has a heart of gold and strength beyond her years.
Bobby Watkins
Bobby is the proud mother of five daughters. She volunteers at the George Stevens Senior Center and is on the membership committee of the AARP. She has a passion for the well-being of seniors, and a lot of her work focuses on the senior community in southeastern San Diego. Her determination for seeking fair treatment for seniors is an example to all.
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Congratulations to you all and once again, thank you very much for all that you do in he community. Your courage and strength gives us pride and hope for a brighter future. You deserve our respect and gratitude.